Population 362 (2011 census) State electorate(s) Nepean Elevation 79 m Local time Thursday 5:25 AM | Postcode(s) 3939 Mean max temp Mean min temp Postal code 3939 Federal division Division of Flinders | |
Location 88 km (55 mi) from Melbourne
15 km (9 mi) from Rosebud LGA(s) Shire of Mornington Peninsula Weather 15°C, Wind E at 16 km/h, 81% Humidity Points of interest Cape Schanck Lighthouse, Cape Schanck Lighthous, Fingal Picnic Area, Angel Cave, Highfield - Mornington Peninsul | ||
Cape Schanck is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria. It is the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula and separates the wild ocean waters of Bass Strait from the slightly calmer waters of Western Port.
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Map of Cape Schanck VIC 3939, Australia
The most recognisable symbol of Cape Schanck is the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1859 and was the second lighthouse built in Victoria. A prominent rock outcrop is Pulpit Rock and stands out at the very tip of the cape.
Cape Schanck is also home to the RACV Resort Cape Schanck on Boneo Road which includes an eighteen-hole golf course and The National Golf Club on Cups Drive.
British-Australian artist Georgiana McCrae produced many of her paintings at Cape Schanck.
A keen artist–traveller in the Romantic tradition, Nicholas Chevalier concentrated on effects of atmosphere, mood and dramatic lighting in his depictions of the iconic natural wonders he found at Cape Schanck, on the southernmost tip of Mornington Peninsula.
History
The location was named in 1800 after Captain John Schank, R.N. by Lieutenant James Grant sailing on the Lady Nelson. Shanck had designed the raised keel (or centreboard) on the Lady Nelson. Nicolas Baudin called it Cap Richelieu when he sailed past on the Géographe on 30 March 1802.
Cape Schanck Post Office opened around March 1879 and closed in 1962.
In 1893 a steamship, the SS Alert, sank off the coast at Cape Schanck during a storm. It was rediscovered after 113 years on the ocean floor in June 2007.
Flora and fauna
Albatrosses (black-browed, Chatham, yellow-nosed, etc.) are occasionally spotted off the cliffs as are short-tailed shearwaters (particularly during their spring migration), black-faced and pied cormorants, kelp gulls and Australasian gannets. The shrubs decorating the area are frequently home to brown thornbills, singing honeyeaters and a number of other passerines. The elusive striated fieldwren has also been known to inhabit the area. Some flora include cushion bushes.